DOCSLIB.ORG

The Reception of the Force Awakens and Rogue One with Female Fans

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Reception of the Force Awakens and Rogue One with Female Fans Volume 8, Issue 1 STAR WARS, Expanded Universe, Legend, Canon? « I thought he was a myth! » May 2018 46-66 “Fan Girls Going Rogue” The Reception of The Force Awakens and Rogue One with Female Fans Jessica Austin Anglia Ruskin University Abstract In the last three years Disney has released four new instalments to the Star Wars franchise, three of which are led by female protagonists, Rey (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi) and Jyn Erso (Rogue One). Although Star Wars fandom has mostly been associated with a rather poor stereotype of the male fanboy, female fans have been taking inspiration from the female characters of the series. Princess Leia aka General Leia Organa in the new instalments was one of the many faces on placards under the motto “A Woman’s Place is in The Resistance” in the Women’s March that occurred in Washington in early 2017. There has been some resistance to the female leads in the new films with criticism that Disney is spouting feminist propaganda and even rumours (which turned out to be false) that Rogue One was being re-shot to be anti- Trump. This study of 330 participants discusses how female reception to the new instalments has differed from the “die-hard” male fans and why this has occurred. Information gathered in the online survey indicated that female Star Wars fans had a positive response to the new female lead characters that were introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: Rogue One. However, it was also apparent that they perceived a negative response to the new female characters but also to themselves by male Star Wars fans. The study addresses a literature gap on reception with female fans to Star Wars. Keywords: star wars, fan-studies, woman-studies, reception, fans “Fan Girls Going Rogue” The Reception of The Force Awakens and Rogue One with Female Fans Introduction On December 18th 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens had its opening night with Daisy Ridley playing the lead female character Rey. By the end of its theatrical run it had made $2 billion at the box office and had thwarted fears that it would end up with the mixed audience and critic reception of the prequel trilogy (The Phantom Menace, 1999; Attack of the Clones, 2002; Revenge of the Sith, 2005). Rogue One: A Star Wars Story followed a year later debuting December 16th 2016, acting as an immediate prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). Rogue One made $1 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing Star Wars film after The Force Awakens. Rogue One also had a female lead in an ensemble cast with Felicity Jones playing Jyn Erso. The characters of Rey and Jyn are worthy of scholarly attention as they are not only new characters, but Rey was a lead character in the reviving of the Star Wars franchise. Rey’s story begins on Jakku where she lives and works as a scavenger. She teams up primarily with Finn (played by John Boyega) to deliver robot, BB8, to the resistance. Many have seen this as a call back to Leia’s intentions on delivering a map in Star Wars: A New Hope. Jyn is the daughter of a man who helped to design the Death Star but decides to join the resistance and steal the schematics. Rey and Jyn’s characters can certainly be perceived as heroes in the Star Wars world. Although the Star Wars franchise has always had a female among its lead actors, (Carrie Fisher playing Princess/General Leia Organa), a loud minority were unhappy with the casting choices in the newer instalments. This was not limited to the female leads but also to the casting of John Boyega as a Stormtrooper, where some fans questioned his ethnicity compared with existing Star Wars canon (Proctor, 2017). This problematic rhetoric was not simply reserved for the cast members but was also levied at female fans. This study was conducted because female fans have often been overlooked in academic fan studies (Pope, 2010: p. 471). In other fandoms, studies have shown that female fans are often accused of not being ‘real’ fans, and that often they are simply present due to romantic attachments (Esmonde, 2013). For example, some male fans resenting the presence of female Twilight fans at Comic Con, their misconception being the girls were only present because of their romantic attachment to characters in the books/actors in the films (Scott, 2011: p. 59; Busse, 2013: p. 73). In fan studies it has been noted that the prevailing stereotype of fans is gendered as male (Scott, 2013; Geraghty, 2014) and this may have contributed to why research on female fans of Star Wars has been sparse thus far. Although Will Brooker devotes a chapter to female fans in Using the Force: Creativity, 47 Kinephanos, ISSN 1916-985X “ STAR WARS, Expanded Universe, Legend, Canon? « I thought he was a myth! »”, June 2018, www.kinephanos.ca “Fan Girls Going Rogue” The Reception of The Force Awakens and Rogue One with Female Fans Community and ‘Star Wars’ Fans (2002), ethnographic studies are limited. Male fans were not considered in this piece of research as they have often been the overwhelming majority in other studies (Proctor, 2013; Brooker, 2002) and so it was prudent to conduct research on female fans only. This study has had two main research foci, whether female fans have been receptive to the new female characters and if they feel as female fans they have subordinated by male fans and by merchandisers. Methodology Data was collected and analysed in this study using the concept of Netnography as outlined by Kozinets (2010). Netnography is designed to be able to tackle ethnographic studies of online communities (Kozinets, 2010: p. 6). Netnography has been used in previous Star Wars research conducted by Proctor (2013). In Proctor’s work (2013) he suggested that Netnography was appropriate for online study as his project aimed to ‘capture affective reactions as close as possible to the ‘fan-event’ (Proctor, 2013: p. 205). At the time of conducting this research Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), was to be imminently released, making data collection close to a fan event, ensuring that participation was at an elevated level. Netnography allows for the use of mixed methods (Kozinets, 2010: p. 60) which is appropriate for studying online communities as it allowed for the collection of both quantitative data (such as demographics) as well as qualitative data on fan experience. An online survey was created and distributed via social media platforms. This study differs from Proctor’s study (2013) as Proctor would be described as an ‘aca-fan’ and a ‘map-maker’ (Hills, 2002: p. 18). This study has been conducted by a researcher with no ties to Star Wars fandom. Ergo, this study has avoided a problem noted by Jenkins; some academics have felt ‘too close’ to the fandom they are studying due to their affinity with the community due to being fans themselves. Jenkins noted he felt a ‘high degree of responsibility and accountability to the groups being discussed’ (Jenkins, 1992: p. 7) in his research. The inclusion criteria for those completing the survey was that respondents identified as a woman and that they considered themselves fans of any part of the Star Wars franchise. Distributing over social media can be problematic as it has been noted that online surveys can sometimes produce lower response rates than postal surveys (Tse, 1998). Bryman notes that ‘certain kinds of populations are less adversely affected by coverage problems’ (Bryman, 2012: 48 Kinephanos, ISSN 1916-985X “ STAR WARS, Expanded Universe, Legend, Canon? « I thought he was a myth! »”, June 2018, www.kinephanos.ca “Fan Girls Going Rogue” The Reception of The Force Awakens and Rogue One with Female Fans p. 674) and this is true of the Star Wars fandom which has a heavy online presence. Also, online surveys has been largely successful in other fandom research (Barker and Mathijs, 2008). Furthermore, Kozinets notes that surveys ‘have been useful for providing an initial overview of the area of online communities, from which we have been able to discern large-scale patterns’ (Kozinets, 2010: p. 43). By using an online survey, this research was able to discern some patterns from 330 responses filling a literature gap on female Star Wars fans. The decision was made to focus questions on the most recent films in the franchise for three reasons. Firstly, the Expanded Universe is now considered non-canon. Secondly, an expectation that a higher proportion of respondents will have seen the most recent films compared to knowledge on expanded universe stories. Thirdly, the films are a fan event making data collection easier. The online survey asked 15 questions beginning with collecting demographic data of gender and age range. Due to the ethical challenges of collecting data from participants under the age of 18 this survey was not open to those under this age. To prohibit the collection of data from those under 18 the survey automatically closed if they selected the ‘under 18’ option for the question ‘What is your age range?’. The second section of the survey collected information on merchandising as one of the main gripes found in preliminary research for this study was that female fans had felt left out when it came to the merchandise they could buy. They often cited the fact that the female characters in the films had little merchandise (action figures and the like) available to them for purchase compared to male fans, who they perceived as being catered for.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • See It Big! Action Features More Than 30 Action Movie Favorites on the Big
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ‘SEE IT BIG! ACTION’ FEATURES MORE THAN 30 ACTION MOVIE FAVORITES ON THE BIG SCREEN April 19–July 7, 2019 Astoria, New York, April 16, 2019—Museum of the Moving Image presents See It Big! Action, a major screening series featuring more than 30 action films, from April 19 through July 7, 2019. Programmed by Curator of Film Eric Hynes and Reverse Shot editors Jeff Reichert and Michael Koresky, the series opens with cinematic swashbucklers and continues with movies from around the world featuring white- knuckle chase sequences and thrilling stuntwork. It highlights work from some of the form's greatest practitioners, including John Woo, Michael Mann, Steven Spielberg, Akira Kurosawa, Kathryn Bigelow, Jackie Chan, and much more. As the curators note, “In a sense, all movies are ’action’ movies; cinema is movement and light, after all. Since nearly the very beginning, spectacle and stunt work have been essential parts of the form. There is nothing quite like watching physical feats, pulse-pounding drama, and epic confrontations on a large screen alongside other astonished moviegoers. See It Big! Action offers up some of our favorites of the genre.” In all, 32 films will be shown, many of them in 35mm prints. Among the highlights are two classic Technicolor swashbucklers, Michael Curtiz’s The Adventures of Robin Hood and Jacques Tourneur’s Anne of the Indies (April 20); Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (April 21); back-to-back screenings of Mad Max: Fury Road and Aliens on Mother’s Day (May 12); all six Mission: Impossible films
    [Show full text]
  • Review of Rogue One: a Star Wars Story
    DVD reviews Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards US 2016). Walt Disney Studios 2017. Region 1. 2.39:1 widescreen. US$23. Sean Guynes-Vishniac After the release of Revenge of the Sith (Lucas US 2005), the third film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy in 2005, George Lucas and Lucasfilm had no plans to add further feature films to the multi-billion-dollar franchise. This was in part because fans of the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–83) hated the prequels, and because Lucas was now interested in television, starting with the animated series The Clone Wars (2008–14, 2019). When Disney bought Lucasfilm, they announced a new trilogy extending the saga of the Skywalker family, and several standalone non-saga ‘anthology’ films to fill narrative gaps in the universe; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first of these anthology films. Its position raises important questions about the contemporary state of the transmedia sf franchise, while its narrative looks at the limits and possibilities of sf blockbusters’ political work. To provide an easy entry into the franchise’s storyworld, Rogue One offers a cast of new characters that fit (and slightly modify) well-known franchise types: protagonist Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), for example, pairs the scruffiness of Han Solo with the paternal drama of Luke Skywalker; Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) takes on the Jedi mystique and mentor role of Obi-Wan Kenobi; K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) is the non-human, comedy-relief sidekick, a cynical update of C-3PO. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), however, stands out thematically, mixing the scoundrel qualities of Solo with the risky charm of Lando Calrissian, and bringing a moral ambiguity to the normally black-and-white world of Jedi and Sith; perhaps these qualities have led to Andor’s being named as the protagonist of one of the upcoming Star Wars series on the new streaming service Disney+.
    [Show full text]
  • D5310 DIE HARD (USA, 1988) (Other Titles: Piege De Cristal; Stirb Langsam; Trappola Di Cristallo)
    D5310 DIE HARD (USA, 1988) (Other titles: Piege de cristal; Stirb langsam; Trappola di cristallo) Credits: director, John McTiernan ; writers, Jeb Stuart, Steven E. de Souza ; story, Roderick Thorp. Cast: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald Veljohnson, Robert Davi, Grand L. Bush. Summary: Action/adventure film set in contemporary Los Angeles. A team of terrorists thieves has seized an office building in L.A. and taken hostages. A New York cop (Willis), in town to spend Christmas with his estranged wife (Bedelia), is the only hope for the people held by the thieves. Two FBI agents assigned to the case (Davi and Bush) are Vietnam veterans. Ansen, David. “The arts: movies: reactivating action heroes” Newsweek 112 (Jul 25, 1988), p. 58. [Reprinted in Film review annual 1989] Breuning, Ulrich. “Die hard” Levenede billeder 5 (Feb 1989), p. 46-7. Broesky, Pat H. “Death is hard ... reincarnation is easy” New York times 143 (Jun 12, 1994), sec. 2, p. 15. Canby, Vincent. “Film view: ‘Die hard’ calls to the kidult” New York times 137 (Jul 31, 1988), sec. 2, p. 19-20. Carr, Jay. “Bruce Willis’ ‘Die hard’: Stylized terror” Boston globe (Jul 15, 1988), p. 29. _______. “Star Bonnie Bedelia keeping her cool” Boston globe (Jul 21, 1988), Calendar, p. 9. Cherchi Usai, Paolo. “Trappola di cristallo” Segnocinema 36 (Jan 1989), p. 26-7. Chiacchiari, Federico. “Trappola di cristallo” Cineforum 28/278 (Oct 1988), p. 92-3. Cieutat, Michel. “Piege de cristal” Positif 334 (Dec 1988), p. 73. Combs, Richard. “Die hard” Monthly film bulletin 56 (Feb 1989), p. 45-6.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by Jason Todd Craft 2004 the Dissertation Committee for Jason Todd Craft Certifies That This Is the Approved Version of the Following Dissertation
    Copyright by Jason Todd Craft 2004 The Dissertation Committee for Jason Todd Craft Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Fiction Networks: The Emergence of Proprietary, Persistent, Large- Scale Popular Fictions Committee: Adam Z. Newton, Co-Supervisor John M. Slatin, Co-Supervisor Brian A. Bremen David J. Phillips Clay Spinuzzi Margaret A. Syverson Fiction Networks: The Emergence of Proprietary, Persistent, Large- Scale Popular Fictions by Jason Todd Craft, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December, 2004 Dedication For my family Acknowledgements Many thanks to my dissertation supervisors, Dr. Adam Zachary Newton and Dr. John Slatin; to Dr. Margaret Syverson, who has supported this work from its earliest stages; and, to Dr. Brian Bremen, Dr. David Phillips, and Dr. Clay Spinuzzi, all of whom have actively engaged with this dissertation in progress, and have given me immensely helpful feedback. This dissertation has benefited from the attention and feedback of many generous readers, including David Barndollar, Victoria Davis, Aimee Kendall, Eric Lupfer, and Doug Norman. Thanks also to Ben Armintor, Kari Banta, Sarah Paetsch, Michael Smith, Kevin Thomas, Matthew Tucker and many others for productive conversations about branding and marketing, comics universes, popular entertainment, and persistent world gaming. Some of my most useful, and most entertaining, discussions about the subject matter in this dissertation have been with my brother, Adam Craft. I also want to thank my parents, Donna Cox and John Craft, and my partner, Michael Craigue, for their help and support.
    [Show full text]
  • Women, Sf Spectacle and the Mise-En-Scene of Adventure in the Star Wars Franchise
    This is a repository copy of Women, sf spectacle and the mise-en-scene of adventure in the Star Wars franchise. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/142547/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Tasker, Y orcid.org/0000-0001-8130-2251 (2019) Women, sf spectacle and the mise-en- scene of adventure in the Star Wars franchise. Science Fiction Film and Television, 12 (1). pp. 9-28. ISSN 1754-3770 https://doi.org/10.3828/sfftv.2019.02 Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Women, science fiction spectacle and the mise-en-scène of space adventure in the Star Wars franchise American science fiction cinema has long provided a fantasy space in which some variation in gender conventions is not only possible but even expected. Departure from normative gender scripts signals visually and thematically that we have been transported to another space or time, suggesting that female agency and female heroism in particular is a by-product of elsewhere, or more precisely what we can term elsewhen.
    [Show full text]
  • I'll Be Refferencing Scenes from the Film with Screen Shots
    Scene The Scene is shown in the film between ~25mins to 37mins, covering the events of the Jedha Revolt. Following the characters Jyn, Cassian and K-2SO on their mission to find Saw Gerrera. I’ll be refferencing scenes from the film with screen shots, and ~25mins to indicating their timing or range with this image: 37mins Any reference to controller input will be concerning the Xbox One controller, making use of the “A”, “B”, “X” and “Y” buttons for example. Characters Jyn Erso Sharp-Shoot Grapple Cassian Andor Sharp-Shoot Quadnoculars Rebel Access K-2SO Imperial Access Strength Mechanics Sharp-Shoot – Hold “X” to bring up a targeting reticle and aim for specific LEGO target pieces. Releasing “B” fires the characters weapon at the target. Grapple – Tap “B” near a grapple point it access high areas or swing across gaps. This can also connect to grapple points on objects. When pulling an object, the player must repeatedly press “B” to fill a meter, at which point the object will be moved. Grapple Pull Grapple Swing Quadnoculars – Press “B” when standing in an area highlighted with Arubesh VFX, then move the targeting reticle around until viewing desired location, at which point the UI flashes and a new object or LEGO piece will appear. Rebel Access – Pressing “B” at a Rebel Access panel brings up a small screen showing broken fragments of planets. The player must move a highlighted fragment into the matching slot in the circle in the middle, then the next piece is highlighted and then the next until the planet is whole.
    [Show full text]
  • Star Wars Universe
    The Last Jedi Book List You’ll Ever Need December 2017 Check out these books recommended by Belmont Library Staff while you’re waiting to see the new film. (Click on the title or book cover to be directed to the catalog record for the item so you can place your hold.) These are the novels you’re looking for Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn-The first in the trilogy known as Thrawn or Heir to the Empire, the story takes place about five years after Return of the Jedi ends. Leia, Han, and Luke must protect the new Republic and their family from the Emperor’s surviving warlord. Great for any fan of the series, the trilogy is considered among the best writing in the extended Star Wars Universe. BELMONT/New Books SCI FIC STA Star Wars. Vol. 1, Skywalker Strikes by Jason Aaron-This graphic novel published by Marvel Comics picks up just after the Death Star has been destroyed. Featuring characters from the original trilogy this is the start of a series throughout the duration of the movies. BELMONT/Adult GRAPHIC STA Battle Front II: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden-Gamers should check out this prequel to the video game of the same name released this November. It follows the elite Empire squad sent in to infiltrate Rebel forces after the stealing of the plans for and the destruction of the Death Star. BELMONT/Adult SCI FIC STA Look at it from another perspective, you must Star Wars and Philosophy-Ever wondered if Anakin was destined to join the Dark Side, why Jedi often lie and Sith tell the truth, or what the ethical issues would be involved with building a clone army? Well so did this collection of writers who explore how philosophy can be applied to the films.
    [Show full text]
  • Alternate Universe Fan Videos and the Reinterpretation of the Media
    Alternate Universe Fan Videos and the Reinterpretation of the Media Source Introduction According to the Francesca Coppa, American scholar and co-founder of the Organization for Transformative Works1, fan videos are “a form of grassroots filmmaking in which clips from television shows and movies are set to music.”2 Fan videos are commonly referred to as: fanvid, songvid, vid, AMV (for Anime Music Video); their process of creation is called vidding and their editors (fan)vidders. While the “media tradition” described above in Francesca Coppa‟s definition is a crucial part of the fan video production, many other fan videos are created for anime, especially Asian ones (AMV), for video games (some of them called Machinima), or even for other subjects, from band tributes to other types of remix. The vidding tradition – in its current “shape” – goes back to the era of the first VCR; but the very first fan videos may be traced back to the seventies in a slideshow format. When channel mixers and numerous machines available to a large group of consumers emerged, this fan activity easily became an expanding one amongst the fan communities, who were often interested in new technology, whatever era it is. Vidding has now become a digital process, thanks to the expansion of computer and related technical means, including at least semiprofessional editing software. It seems relevant to point out how rare it is that a vidder goes through editing training when they begin to create fan videos, or even become a professional editor later on. Of course, exceptions exist, but vidding generally remains a hobby.
    [Show full text]
  • Be Mindful of the Future: Information and Knowledge Management in Star Wars Tie-In Fiction
    Volume 13 Spring 2017 djim.management.dal.ca | Be mindful of the future: information and knowledge management in Star Wars tie-in fiction Diana Castillo School of Information Management, Dalhousie University Abstract In the last fifty years, media franchises have been using tie-in fiction to expand their universes and tell stories outside the main source material. This paper examines how information management is used specifically in Star Wars tie-in fiction and its recent transition to using knowledge management. To start, this paper looks at the history of tie-in fiction from its roots in the 1960s to the modern day, before transitioning to the role of brand managers and editors as information managers. Then, this paper documents the history of Star Wars tie-in fiction and how information management strategies were implemented through 2014 and how it impacted the franchise’s internal continuity. Finally, this paper examines the recent move towards a unified canon and how this shift towards knowledge management has impacted storytelling. This paper concludes that while it is too early to evaluate its results, Star Wars was uniquely situated among franchises to move towards knowledge management through its prior information management efforts. Introduction universes and tell stories they may not be able to tell otherwise. Creating a well-run line In today’s entertainment environment, of tie-in fiction requires coordination between popular franchises are rarely limited to one authors, publishing houses, and the licensing type of media. They license their products company through information management. across various different formats to engage In the context of this paper, information fans and expand their footprint in popular management is defined as working with culture as much as possible.
    [Show full text]
  • 80S Movie Trivia Questions and Answers
    80s Movie Trivia Questions From: conversationstartersworld.com/80s-movie-trivia 1. Which 80s movie was the highest grossing film of the decade? E.T. The Extraterrestrial The 1982 movie surpassed Star Wars to become the highest grossing film of all time. The movie held that record for 11 years until it was surpassed by Jurassic Park in 1993. 2. Which 80s movie was Alan Rickman’s first feature film role? Die Hard The 1988 film grossed over $140 million worldwide and turned Bruce Willis into an action star. Before then he had been known only as a comedy actor. Willis filmed the comedy television series Moonlighting at the same time as Die Hard. Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is the terrorist’s theme song in the movie, and Rickman can be seen humming the song during his elevator scene with Mr. Takagi. 3. Which 80s movie spawned 6 sequels and a T.V. series? Police Academy The comedy film grossed $146 million worldwide and became the sixth highest grossing film of 1984. The film was inspired by real life police cadets. During the filming of The Right Stuff Paul Maslansky witnessed a diverse group of police cadets ineffectively doing crowd control for the filming. He found the situation humorous, and that night he wrote up two pages to give to the Ladd Company. They loved the concept and agreed to develop the movie. 4. Which 80’s movie was the first to become a hit largely due to MTV? Flashdance The 1983 film had a decent opening weekend but the soundtrack was what catapulted the film to success.
    [Show full text]
  • Mature Masculinity and the Ageing Action Hero
    Meijer Rebecca Feasey Mature masculinity and the ageing action hero The ageing male action hero is a figure many are familiar with through the character of Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series. However, physical strength, speeds and agility are usually not associated with old age. Whether age makes a difference in the action hero genre is a question Rebecca Feasey deals with in this article. Introduction Much work within the field of film and gender studies has attempted to theorise, unmask and deconstruct the representation of the male action hero, paying particular attention to the spectacular body and the herculean physical performances of characters such as John McClane/Bruce Willis, Martin Riggs/Mel Gibson and Indiana Jones/Harrison Ford. And yet, at a time when these stars are returning to the action roles that made them famous, in some cases, several decades later, scholars continue to ignore and overlook the fundamental notion of age in their discussions of the hard bodied, hegemonic hero. After all, hegemonic masculinity has associations with physical prowess, sexual virility, social dominance and aggression, which are potentially at odds with the image of the ageing male. With this in mind, I propose to examine the representation of the ageing action hero in the popular and long running Die Hard (1988, 1990, 1995, 2007) franchise, and consider the ways in which the mature masculinity on offer is seen to either be confirming to or challenging the hegemonic ideal. Hegemonic masculinity and male hierarchies Although there are a myriad of masculinities in existence at any one moment, this is not to say that each one is treated equally or granted the same level of social, sexual or economic power.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Domestic
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Domestic Dispatches: The Moral Imperative of Modernity, Writing, and the Evolving Role of Female Missionaries A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Anthropology by Emily Frances King Committee in Charge: Professor Suzanne Brenner, Chair Professor Joseph Hankins Professor Saiba Varma 2017 The thesis of Emily Frances King is approved and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2017 iii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my family. Thank you for telling me family stories, and constantly finding new articles and photographs in old boxes that made this thesis longer than I anticipated. Thank you for always making me laugh at horrible puns. Thank you for your unwavering support and love. This thesis wouldn’t have been possible without you. iv Table of Contents Signature Page……………………………………………………………………………iii Dedication……………………………………………………………………...................iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….v List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………….vi Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………vii Abstract of the Thesis..………………………………………………………………….viii I-Introduction……………………………………...………………………………………1 II-The Myth of Teleological Progress…………………………………………………......6
    [Show full text]